Here I am

Icon of Abraham

Image from Wikimedia Commons

This amazing poem by the great Rumi moves me to tears:

All night, a man called “Allah”
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, “Hey! Mr Gullible!
How comes you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, “Here, I am”?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what. Nothing!”

The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
“Why are you regretting praising Allah?”

The man said, “I called and called
But Allah never replied, 'Here I am.'”
Abraham explained, “Allah has said,
'Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of “Allah”
Waits a thousand replies of “Here I am.”'

It has been said that our love for God and God's love for us is the same love. This Rumi poem reminds me of that understanding.

(Oh, and just in case anyone reading this is not aware of it, "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God. Arabic speaking Christians refer to God as Allah.)